MOSES Advocates to Restore Safety-Net Funding to 2026 Dane County Budget
Creating the 2026 Dane County budget was a difficult process. For starters, there was a $31-million deficit, driven by rising expenses — especially in health care – that bumped up against state-imposed revenue caps. County Executive Melissa Agard requested that all departments take a 4% cut off their base, and all departments complied except the Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Barrett argued that any change to his budget would reduce public safety. Agard then cut an additional 4% from all Purchase of Service (POS) agencies, which primarily affected human services. (The Dane County Department of Human Services (DHS) uses POS agencies to implement many of its programs; examples of POS agencies are Journey Mental Health and JustDane.) The additional 4% was on top of cuts the DHS had already made — cuts that had already affected the POS agencies.
In addition, the executive budget did not adequately deal with a pending crisis in the homeless-shelter system. The current men’s shelter is being replaced with a new purpose-built shelter, which, while much better, has a capacity of only 250. Unfortunately, there is not adequate funding to run this shelter, and the need has soared to as many as 400 men per night. Because of the increased need, an overflow shelter is now needed for the coldest months of the year.
The situation was looking very discouraging, but then a bold proposal came out of the Health and Human Needs committee (HHN), which is chaired by Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner. She suggested amendments to address the POS cuts, the homeless concerns, and several other issues that had not been addressed in the executive budget. Heidi worked with the Public Protection and Judiciary committee (PP&J), chaired by Supervisor Richelle Andrae, to introduce budget amendments to fund the needs listed above by cutting unfilled positions from the Sheriff’s Office. MOSES members attended HHN and PP&J meetings and gave testimony in support of these amendments. Dozens of other people, many representing organizations, also testified in support.
The amendments passed HHN and PP&J and then went to the Personnel and Finance committee (P&F), where, again, MOSES members organized to give spoken testimony and to register written support in favor of the amendments. After extensive discussions led by County Board Chair Patrick Miles, the PP&J amendments were replaced with a one-year compromise amendment proposed by the Personnel and Finance Committee (P&F). This amendment froze but did not cut 20 Sheriff’s Office positions, which are unlikely to be filled in 2026. P&F also found additional savings in the budget, which, when combined with the funding from the frozen Sheriff’s Office positions, restored most of the funding needed for the HHN amendments. Both Sheriff Barrett and HHN Chair Wegleitner said that they could live with the compromise, although the Sheriff continues to criticize it.
MOSES members testified to the full County Board in favor of the P&F compromise amendments. On Nov. 6, the day of the vote, MOSES organized a rally in front of the City County Building. The rally was well attended; it included representatives from over half of our 22 member congregations and drew significant media coverage. After a lengthy and contentious debate, the County Board approved the compromise and passed the budget with a 32-5 vote.
The 2026 budget helps to preserve Dane County’s safety net. It won’t take any Sheriff ‘s deputies out of the jail or out of rural communities. Public safety is much more than law enforcement; preserving the safety net is an essential part of public safety. We need a permanent solution to our safety-net needs, because a budget deficit similar to that of 2026 is projected for 2027.